Monday, January 23, 2006

Ok... I'm always willing to take a challenging position on an issue. So here I am stepping into one of the most divisive ones on the approaching horizon. Simply put, I believe the US needs a strong woman as president. Now, I'm not going to say who that woman should be... though for the record, I was a supporter of Elizabeth Dole.

Let's start with a few facts:- There are 7 female presidents worldwide.- There are 4 female prime ministers.- 14 women hold spots in the U.S. Senate, 59 women in the House of Representatives and 8 female governors.

The US has already had a woman run for president - just not during most of our lifetimes. The first woman to run for president was Victoria Woodhull in 1872. While most of us have never heard of her, many of the things we take for granted were keys of her platform. She advocated: the 8-hour work day, graduated income tax, social welfare programs, and corporate profit sharing. Woodhull was quite a forward thinker in her time and made few distintions between class and social status. She offered her hospitality to prostitutes and royalty alike. Most considered her a bundle of contradictions. Although she was opposed to the organized Christian religion, she lived its principles: She fed the hungry, cared for the sick, and visited the prisoners. She believed that living those principles was more important to saving souls than preaching the resurrection of Christ. She owned a newspaper which was the first to print the Communist Manifesto in English; and yet, she was also the first female stockbroker on Wall Street. Certianly a strong woman!